Hold &#39;em game side bet

ABSTRACT

Hold &#39;Em poker is played in a conventional manner. Also, a side bet is provided that is determined by the result of a stud poker hand. The stud poker hand uses the player&#39;s hole cards and additional cards to form the stud poker hand. Alternatively, the stud poker hand uses the community cards. An award is made to the player for winning stud poker hands based on the amount of the side bet and the poker hand ranking of the stud poker as shown in a pay table.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 61/780870, filed Mar. 13, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

A poker hold 'em game is provided with a side bet. The result of the side bet is determined by the outcome of a stud poker hand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In stud poker, the player only uses the cards that are dealt to him to form his hand. There is no discarding unwanted cards and no replacement cards are provided to the player. Again, the player wins or loses based on the poker hand ranking of the player's final hand.

In other forms of poker, there are multiple players. Quite often in these multiple player games, the object for the player is to have a higher ranking poker hand than all of the other players. In order to participate in the game, the players make wagers which are collected in a common pot. Usually, the first wager by each player is called the Ante wager. During the play of the poker game, various betting rounds occur at which each player may make additional wagers. Players may also fold at any point in the poker game upon which the player is withdrawing from further participation in that round of the game. Poker games that have more than one betting round can result in much larger common pots.

At the end of the round of the game, the player with the best poker hand wins the pot. These multiple player poker games can be played as either draw poker games or stud poker games.

Hold 'Em poker is a popular form of poker. Hold 'Em is played using community cards. A community card is a card that is shared among all of the players in the game. Typically, community cards are displayed face up in the center of the table so that all players can see the community cards.

A player initially receives one or more hole cards which are cards unique to that player. Then a plurality of community cards are displayed during which betting rounds occur. Wagers made during the betting rounds are collected in a common pot. The player with the best poker hand at the end of the game wins the common pot.

In the conventional play of Texas Hold 'Em Poker, each player receives two hole cards and a round of betting occurs. Then three community cards (the Flop) are displayed and another round of betting occurs. Then a fourth community card (the Turn or Fourth Street) is displayed and another round of betting occurs. Finally, a fifth community card (the River or Fifth Street) is displayed and another round of betting occurs. The player with the best poker hand out of the seven cards (his two hole cards and the five community cards) wins the common pot.

Omaha Poker plays quite similar to Texas Hold 'Em Poker except that each player initially receives four hole cards. The display of the community cards and the betting rounds are the same as in Texas Hold 'Em Poker except that in the final determination a player must use two of his four hole cards to make his final five card.

There is discussed in old Hoyle poker texts another version of Omaha in which each player gets two hole cards and the five community cards are displayed one card at a time. This results in six rounds of betting and the player is not required to use either of his hole cards in his final poker hand. See, SCARNE, infra at 26.

Another Hold 'Em poker type game is called Pineapple. In Pineapple, each player receives three hole cards. The community cards are displayed three, one and one. In regular Pineapple, the player must discard one of his hole cards before the three card flop is revealed. In Crazy Pineapple, the player must discard one of his hole cards after the flop is revealed, but before the turn card is revealed.

SCARNE'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CARD GAMES (copyright 1973, 1983) at pages 6-55, inclusive (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein) describes many draw poker and stud poker games. At pages 44-45 the method of play of Las Vegas Style Hold 'Em poker is described and tracks quite closely the description of Texas Hold 'Em poker described above.

SCARNE, Id., at pages 23-26 also describes various “spit-in-the-ocean” card games which can generally be categorized as draw poker games that use community cards. When the player discards unwanted cards from his own hand, the replacement cards come from the community cards to complete the player's final hand.

According to SCARNE, Id., at pages 25-26, some of these “spit-in-the-ocean” card games do not use a draw step. Scarne describes a game known as Lame Brain (which also goes by the name of Cincinnati or by the name of Confusion). Each player receives five cards in his own hand and there are five community cards dealt face down. Each community card is turned up one at a time with appropriate betting rounds. The best five card hand wins with each player forming his final five card hand from the total of ten cards—the player's five cards and the five community cards.

Variations of Lame Brain are also described. Round the World uses four player cards and four community cards with the best five card hand being the winner. Both Lame Brain and Round the World can be played as High-Low games.

Another game similar to Lame Brain is called Criss Cross (also called, Cross Widow or X Marks the Spot or Crossover). The five community cards are displayed in a cross configuration. Each player's final hand comes from the player's five cards and up to three of the community cards, but a player may only use community cards that are in the same horizontal or vertical row.

A disadvantage of many of the known community card games is that only one hand can played at a time. A more exciting poker game would include a side bet added to the poker game.

There have also been proposals to add side bets to live casino table card games. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,041 (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference) to Jones et al., issued Aug. 29, 1989, discloses making an optional side on a Twenty-one game.

SUMMARY

Hold 'Em poker is played in a conventional manner. Also, a side bet is provided that is determined by the result of a stud poker hand. The stud poker hand uses the player's hole cards and additional cards to form the stud poker hand. Alternatively, the stud poker hand uses the community cards. An award is made to the player for winning stud poker hands based on the amount of the side bet and the poker hand ranking of the stud poker as shown in a pay table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a gaming table layout on which the method of Version 1 can be played.

FIG. 2 shows a gaming table layout on which the method of Version 2 can be played.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The method of play can be played on a suitable live gaming poker table 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The table 10 is provided with a plurality of player locations, e.g. A-E, and the dealer sits adjacent the table at location 12 adjacent the chip rack 24. As is conventional in live gaming poker, the dealer does not play a hand, but merely deals the cards and supervises the wagering and payouts during the player of the game.

Many of the traditional live poker game formats can be adapted for play in accordance with the present invention. In each format, the use of antes, blinds (big and/or small) and a dealer button can used as would be appropriate for the poker game format being played.

The methods use a conventional deck of playing cards—fifty-two cards with four suits and thirteen ranks from Deuce through Ace. As used in this disclosure, wager and betting can be both monetary and non-monetary amounts. The methods of this disclosure can be played in a live casino environment or using online applications on the internet or through social gaming.

Version 1.

In this version, a method is used to determine the outcome of the side bet wager.

A method of including a side bet on a hold 'em poker game comprising:

a) a player making a first wager to play the hold 'em game;

b) the player making a second wager to play a side bet on the hold 'em game;

c) using a standard deck of playing cards, dealing two hole cards to the player as part of the hold 'em game;

d) dealing at least five community cards as part of the hold 'em game;

e) determining the outcome of the hold 'em game in accordance with the conventional manner of play of the hold 'em game;

f) determining the outcome of the side bet by determining the stud poker hand ranking of the at least five community cards;

g) making an award to the player on the outcome of the hold 'em game if the player has a winning hand; and

h) making an award to the player on the outcome of the side bet if the player has a winning stud poker hand.

The method of the present invention as applied to Hold 'Em poker begins with the players making the appropriate ante wagers and blind wagers as is conventional in the primary Hold 'Em poker game. Each player who wishes to be eligible for the side bet feature of the game also makes a side bet at location 40. The outcome of the side bet feature will be determined by a stud poker hand.

A conventional manner of play of Texas Hold 'Em poker now proceeds. Each player receives two hole cards from the dealer. As shown in FIG. 1, player A has received the Ten of Diamonds 101 and the Ten of Clubs 102. Player B has received the Ace of Spades 111 and the Five of Clubs 112. Player C has received the King of Clubs 121 and the Eight of Diamonds 122. Player D has received the Queen of Hearts 131 and the Ace of Clubs 132. Player E has received the Eight of Spades 141 and the Nine of Spades 142.

A round of betting occurs. All bets during each round of betting are collected into a pot 30 usually aggregated in front of the dealer's location 12. As is conventional, a portion of the pot can be raked by the dealer as the house's fee for dealing the game.

Next, in the example shown in FIG. 1, five community cards are dealt face up. The community cards starts with a flop of three community cards 51, 52 and 53 in the community card hand 50 in a suitable location such as the center of the gaming table 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the flop is the Six of Hearts 51, the Seven of Spades 52 and the Eight of Clubs 53.

Another round of betting occurs. As shown in FIG. 1, a fourth community card 54 (the Turn or Fourth Street) is displayed in the community card hand 50. The Turn card is the Nine of Diamonds 54.

Another round of betting occurs. As shown in FIG. 1, a fifth community card 55 (the River or Fifth Street) is displayed in the community card hand 50. The River card is the Ten of Hearts 55.

A final round of betting occurs. The remaining player with the best five card poker hand from the combination of the five community cards from community hand 50 plus the player's Hole cards wins the entire pot. This is play of the primary Hold 'Em poker game as is conventional.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the best five card hand in the primary Hole 'Em poker game is a Straight using all of the community cards, so the POT 30 would be split among all of the players who stayed in the hand until the end of the hand.

After the result of the primary Hold 'Em poker game is determined, the outcome of the side bet feature is determined.

In this Version 1, the result of the side bet is determined by the community cards which are treated as a stud poker hand. Depending on the poker hand ranking of the five cards comprising the community cards, the side bet made a player either wins or loses.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the five community cards 51-55 have a poker hand ranking of a Straight.

A side bet pay table is used to determine which hands are winning hands and which hands are losing hands. Any suitable side bet pay table may be used. In an embodiment, a pay table shown in Table 1 may be used which uses traditional poker hand rankings. The amount of the payout to the player on the side bet is based on the amount wagered by the player on the side bet.

TABLE 1 DRAW POKER NUMBER OF COINS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 25 50 75 100 125 FULL HOUSE 9 18 27 36 45 FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 2 4 6 8 10 PAIR JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5

Any hand that has a poker hand ranking of less than a Pair of Jacks or Better is a losing hand and the side bet wager is lost. Based on Table 1, each player who made the side bet would win four coins, credits or units for each coin, credit or unit wagered on the side bet.

Version 2.

In this version, a different method is used to determine the outcome of the side bet wager.

A method of including a side bet on a hold 'em poker game comprising:

a) a player making a first wager to play the hold 'em game;

b) the player making a second wager to play a side bet on the hold 'em game;

c) using a standard deck of playing cards, dealing two hole cards to the player as part of the hold 'em game;

d) dealing community cards as part of the hold 'em game;

e) determining the outcome of the hold 'em game in accordance with the conventional manner of play of the hold 'em game;

f) determining the outcome of the side bet by determining the stud poker hand ranking of hole cards of the player combined with additional cards dealt to the player to create a five card hand;

g) making an award to the player on the outcome of the hold 'em game if the player has a winning hand; and

h) making an award to the player on the outcome of the side bet if the player has a winning stud poker hand.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional manner of play of the Texas Hold 'Em poker game is played out in the same way as in Version 1. However, instead of using the community cards to determine winners or losers of the side bet, additional cards are dealt to each player which are then combined with each player's hole cards to determine a five card stud poker hand that can be analyzed for poker hand rankings.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, additional cards are dealt to each player who has made the side bet wager 40. Since each player starts with two hole cards, three additional cards are dealt to each player so that each player ends up with a five card hand. This five card becomes the five card stud poker hand that is used to determine if the player has a winning side bet.

A side bet pay table is used to determine which stud poker hands are winning hands and which stud poker hands are losing hands. Any suitable side bet pay table may be used. In an embodiment, a pay table shown in Table 1 may be used which uses traditional poker hand rankings. The amount of the payout to the player on the side bet is based on the amount wagered by the player on the side bet.

For example, player A receives three additional cards: the Four of Spades 103, the Four of Clubs 104 and the Four of Hearts 105. Player A's two hole cards are the Ten of Diamonds 101 and the Ten of Clubs 102. This results in a five card stud poker hand having a poker hand ranking of a Full House. Using Table 1 as the payout table, a Full House pays nine coins, credits or units for each coin, credit or unit wagered by Player A on the side bet.

Player B receives three additional cards: the Three of Hearts 113, the Jack of Clubs 114 and the Two of Diamonds 115. Player B's two hole cards are the Ace of Spades 111 and the Five of Clubs 112. This results in a five card stud poker hand having a poker hand ranking of an Ace High. Using Table 1 as the payout table, a poker hand ranking of an Ace High is a losing hand and player B loses his side bet wager to the house.

Player C receives three additional cards: the Eight of Spades 123, the King of Spades 124 and the Two of Clubs 125. Player C's two hole cards are the King of Clubs 121 and the Eight of Diamonds 122. This results in a five card stud poker hand having a poker hand ranking of a Two Pair. Using Table 1 as the payout table, a Full House pays two coins, credits or units for each coin, credit or unit wagered by Player C on the side bet.

Player D receives three additional cards: the King of Diamonds 133, the Ten of Spades 134 and the Jack of Spades 135. Player D's two hole cards are the Queen of Hearts 131 and the Ace of Clubs 132. This results in a five card stud poker hand having a poker hand ranking of a Straight. Using Table 1 as the payout table, a Straight pays four coins, credits or units for each coin, credit or unit wagered by Player D on the side bet.

Player E receives three additional cards: the Two of Spades 143, the Three of Spades 144 and the Five of Spades 145. Player E's two hole cards are the Eight of Spades 141 and the Nine of Spades 142. This results in a five card stud poker hand having a poker hand ranking of a Flush. Using Table 1 as the payout table, a Flush pays four coins, credits or units for each coin, credit or unit wagered by Player D on the side bet.

The side bet feature disclosed herein can be applied to any of the various formats for Hold 'Em poker or similar community card games. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of including a side bet on a hold 'em poker game comprising: a) a player making a first wager to play the hold 'em game; b) the player making a second wager to play a side bet on the hold 'em game; c) using a standard deck of playing cards, dealing two hole cards to the player as part of the hold 'em game; d) dealing at least five community cards as part of the hold 'em game; e) determining the outcome of the hold 'em game in accordance with the conventional manner of play of the hold 'em game; f) determining the outcome of the side bet by determining the stud poker hand ranking of the at least five community cards; g) making an award to the player on the outcome of the hold 'em game if the player has a winning hand; and h) making an award to the player on the outcome of the side bet if the player has a winning stud poker hand.
 2. A method of including a side bet on a hold 'em poker game comprising: a) a player making a first wager to play the hold 'em game; b) the player making a second wager to play a side bet on the hold 'em game; c) using a standard deck of playing cards, dealing two hole cards to the player as part of the hold 'em game; d) dealing community cards as part of the hold 'em game; e) determining the outcome of the hold 'em game in accordance with the conventional manner of play of the hold 'em game; f) determining the outcome of the side bet by determining the stud poker hand ranking of hole cards of the player combined with additional cards dealt to the player to create a five card hand; g) making an award to the player on the outcome of the hold 'em game if the player has a winning hand; and h) making an award to the player on the outcome of the side bet if the player has a winning stud poker hand. 